Would be interested in what you think of combining mindfulness meditation to turn attention away from noisy mind chatter, with CBT to bring dysfunctional thought patterns to light and challenge them.
To each their own, of course, but CBT has never particularly helped me. Same with DBT, aside from a couple of small things in particular, like practicing validation in interpersonal relationships. This is probably mainly because I already knew what I was doing wrong, I just couldn't change it.
What helped me start to change it more than anything else was a book called "The Subtle Art of Not Giving A Fuck" by Mark Mason. He explains, in practical, non-scientific terms how the brain, thought processes, beliefs and values, work and how to change them.
Another really good one is "Stumbling on Happiness" by Daniel Gilbert. This one more scientific. He's a psychologist and explains why our brains do the various things they do. For example, they both plug things into and take things out from memory. We end up thinking that we remember an event from the past, but what we are really remembering is the emotions we felt. Our brains always remember the emotions more so than the actual event. We have to remember things this way because if we associate something with negative emotions, we know not to do it again.
As far as mindfulness and meditation, I do happen to think they help, regardless of whether we are in distress or not at the time. They help us see thoughts as merely thoughts, and literally train the brain to focus on what we want it to focus on, not what it feels like focusing on.